July 24. Summertime, reflections and farewells. #73

July 24. Summertime, reflections and farewells. #73

Summary 👇 

  • Editorial
  • Brief news from the media, charts and sister projects. 
  • European Folk Network annual conference: Kaustinen, Finland, 24-25 September. 
  • Open calls: European Folk Day, Polyglot, Afro Pepites… Summertime so no many news!
  • Meet me at ✈️ 

➡️ This is the link for subscription

Hello, how are you?

I hope well. I am very well. This picture is from Friday 5th of July in Førde and the gentleman is the outstanding painter Oddvar Torsheim. I could tell you that we agreed on the colours to make this picture specifically for you, but the truth is that it was totally spontaneous. We met in the street dressed like this.

Red and black is always a winning combination, and I believe that both Oddvar and I prefer to dedicate our effort to decisions that are not about coordinating our outfits. We have it decided by default for most occasions, saving mental energy. At the same time, this creates a recognizable personal image. I’ve been thinking about such matters lately. For example, personal branding, especially for artists. I follow a marketing expert, Neus Díez, and she recently said in a video that an artist’s personal brand must be drawable.

Last Saturday, we learned of the passing of Mísia. She was very drawable. I think she is a paradigmatic example of this issue. Mísia created a distinctive image: sexier, more mysterious, darker, with a modern elegance, different from what was usual in fado. I’m not sure if she would have defined herself as a fado singer, given her diverse background, which manifested in her artistic career. The fact is, she has passed away. The funeral will take place on August 6th in Lisbon at the Basílica da Estrela. I am sure that many art professionals will attend to pay tribute to her. She wasn’t the best singer, but with the entirety of her proposition, she managed to expand the reach of her music and Portuguese popular music in general. Florenci Mas will surely discuss these topics in his course, which we talked about in the previous edition. If you didn’t read the interview, here it is.

Toumani Diabate has also passed away. I have thought about the people deeply connected with him, those behind the scenes, like Saul Presa, his manager, or Lucy Duran, who can be considered his discoverer. What a loss.

In this edition, I don’t have an interview. The person I had scheduled had personal issues, so it wasn’t possible. This edition is a bit lighter, but I’m sure you haven’t read the nearly 100 interviews I’ve already published. You can find them all here.

Remember: if you have any news of interest for our community, let me know. Thank you very much for your attention.

Araceli Tzigane | Mapamundi Música | +34 676 30 28 82 

While you read the rest of the content, you can listen to the album “Songhai”, released in 1988, featuring the Spanish group Ketama, Toumani Diabate, and the British bassist Danny Thompson. I believe this album changed the lives of Ketama, certainly of many others, and possibly opened many minds and created new paths.

 

EUROPEAN FOLK NETWORK ANNUAL CONFERENCE

I will start quoting the text from the website:

“A host of superb speakers, sessions and discussions of interest to everyone in the traditional arts, unique Finnish music and dancing for three days – don’t miss this opportunity to network in the remarkable rural setting of Kaustinen in the heart of Finland.”

This sounds exciting and indeed it will be. An outline of the full schedule is HERE.

To tease you more, these are some of the topics that excite me specially and that will be discussed there:

  • New Europeans
  • Branding for Professional Folk
  • Traditional Arts Cultural Tourism
  • Safeguarding and Promotion of ICH and Traditional Arts

The European Folk Network has its own monthly newsletter, for which you can subscribe here. And here below I am sharing with you the digital poster that was published early today on the social media. For any questions, contact info@europeanfolknetwork.com

 

 

BRIEF NEWS FROM THE MEDIA, CHARTS AND SISTER PROJECTS 

  • #1 for Transglobal World Music Chart in July of 2024 is: Ali Doğan Gönültaş’s Keyeyî. I already announced in the edition of April that, as I have a conflict of interest, I am not voting for the Transglobal World Music Chart while I have albums released by my brand as candidates for the charts. Nevertheless, other panelists supported the album and we are very proud about this success. Ali’s album is #10 this month in World Music Charts Europe, for which we are also very happy.
  • Mundofonías: the three favourites of the month are so diverse! Jyotsna Srikanth’s Carnatic Nomad, Vigüela’s We and the collective album of Bhutan Balladeers’ Your face is like the moon, your eyes are stars.

  • LIMúR, second quarter. For the same reason as for TWMC, I stopped voting while an album of my label is a candidate. Nevertheless, Vigüela’s We is #1. Check the Top 15 on the website.

 

 

Do you have a call of interest for our community that you want to share? Let me know asap

 

OPEN CALLS 

This section is open for news. It is free of charge. You can let me know if you have any open call of relevance to the community

These two phrases will give you an idea of this project:

· If you’re a songwriter who has a hit at hand, a potential chart-topper ready to conquer new audiences, apply!”

·”Songs in their original language are translated and promoted in other European languages by our seven partners”.

  • European Folk Day again in 2024! Already present in the newsletter before + update

Right now there are 26 events registered in 8 countries already on the website of the European Folk Day. The participation is open to anyone, like in the first edition. There are many ideas on how to participate, on the website.

And the Music Repository is been developed again for this 2024 edition. To submit the music, the artists or label can send a song or tune in mp3 to media@europeanfolkday.eu. Tell them your name, where the piece is from and a statement that you have the rights and you allow them to share it on the website www.europeanfolkday.eu

The 14th casting of the Afro Pepites Show (The Trade Show) is open until 30 Sept. 2024! The registration process is here. It is a call for many kinds of arts, not just music. “The casting is open to all artists (musicians, painters, dancers, photographers, fashion-designers, sculptors, story-tellers, humorists, poets, directors of short movies and actors of solidary-based actions), who are from Africa, the Caribbean, Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba, etc. and to all artists inspired by Africa.”

The 3 selected projects (The Pepites) will be integrated into their platform and will benefit from support in communication and possibly in management.

MEET ME AT

If you happen to attend these events, drop me a line. They are international events to which some of the readers may attend. If you are not, they can be interesting for you too in any case.

  • 2 August: Jerash Festival. Jordan. Concert by Ali Doğan Gönültaş.
  • 24-25 September: Kaustinen. Finland. Annual meeting of the European Folk Network.
  • 10-13 October, perhaps at Fira Mediterrània de Manresa but if I don’t go, you can go anyway! It is a enjoyable event where to discover many artists.
  • 23-27 October: WOMEX in Manchester (UK).
  • 19-22 November: Mundial Montreal (Canada).